Court Agrees To Review Decision To Reopen ‘Serial’ Case

BALTIMORE (AP/CBS Local) — Maryland’s highest court will review a decision to reopen a high-profile case for a man whose murder conviction was chronicled in the hit podcast “Serial.”

Earlier this year, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals ordered a new trial for Adnan Syed, upholding a 2016 lower court ruling. But the state’s top court has now agreed to consider whether Syed’s murder conviction should be reinstated.

A Thursday court document says the case will be set for argument during a December session.

Syed was convicted in 2000 of killing his high-school sweetheart. His story was widely publicized in the 2014 “Serial” podcast, which cast doubt on his guilt and inspired armchair investigators.

A lower-court judge vacated Syed’s conviction in 2016. Prosecutors appealed to Maryland’s intermediate appeals court, which granted a new trial.